Armored-tube life-saver.



J. MARKSON.

ARMORED TUBE LIFE SAVER.

APPLICATION YILED' DEC. 2, 1912.

Patented Jan. 6, 1914.

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Patented Jan 6,

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TACOMA, WASHINGTON.

ARMQEED-TUBE' LIFE-SAVER.

eases.

Specification of Letters Patent. application filed December 2, 1912:Serial 150-73%613.

Patented Jan. 6, 1914i.

To. all wltcm it may concern;-

Be it; known that I, JOSEPH MARKSON, citizen of the United States,residing at T2.- coma qin the county of Pierce. and State of Washington,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Armored- Tubespecification.

My invention relates to new useful improvements in life saving devicesand particularly to armored tube life saving devices for expressmessengers, bank clerks and other people liable to be held up by robbersduring the discharge of their duty, and the object of my invention is toprovide an armored housing in which the messenger may seek refuge andfrom which he can protect theproperty under charge.

A further object of my invention is to provide the housing with a doorwhich may be locked from the inside and which cannot be unlocked fromthe outside, whereby the messenger may readily lock himself within thehousing. And a still further object of my invention is to providethe-housingwith a plurality of spaced sight openings, too small for thepassage of a bullet, but large enough to permit the persori standing inthe housing to readily watch people outside of the same. And a stillfurther object of my invention is to provide the housing with aplurality of larger openings having spring pressed shutters mounted uponthe outside of the housing and normally covering and overlapping theopenings to prevent the en-v trance of bullets, these shutters being soarranged that they may be opened from the inside to permit the person inthe housing to shoot from the housing and thus protect the propertyunder his charge. And a still further'obgect of my invention is to mountthe entire housing upon rollers or casters in such a manner that it maybe readily moved from place to place, in a car, bank or other place inwhich it is to be used.

With these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accom anying drawings,'and

then specifically pointed out in the claim which is attached to andforms a part of this application.

' In-the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of myarmored lifesaving tube; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section on the line 2-2 ofFig. 3; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2,looking toward the {bottom of the tube; Fig. 4 is a fragmentarygperspecti-ve view of the tube, showing one of the shutters in partiallyopen position; Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view, showing the lock bymeans of which the door is fastened ifrom the inside of the tube.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followin descriptionand indicated in all the views 0 the drawings by the same greferencecharacters.

r The preferred embodiment of my invention, as illustrated in thedrawings, in- :cludes an armored tube or housing 10, preferablycylindrical in shape and closed at its upper and lower end by a top 11and bottom 12, said top and bottom having laterally directed peripheralflanges seating ceive rivets or other suitable fastening devices 13which are passed through the housing and flanges to fasten the top andbottom in place. This armored tube or housing is made of metal suitableto withstand-the impact of a rifle or revolver bullet, No. 16- steelbeing heavy enough for this purpose and the housing when completedshould be six or more feet in height and substantially three feet indiameter.

Positioned in spaced relation above the bottom of the housing, are aplurality of upon the housing by sleeves 15 bolted or rivetedthrough thebody of the housing The housing is provided with a plurality of handles16 by means of which it may be readily moved from one part of a car orbank building to another to bring it to an advantageous position. Thebody 10 of the housing is provided at one side with a door opening 17which is normally closed by a door 18 so proportioned as to slightlyoverlap the door opening and curved transversely to conform to thegeneral curvature of the body of the housing, this door being formed ofthe same metal as the body of the housing. This door is provided uponits outside with a handle 19 and upon its inside with any suitable formof latch or lock 20 by means of which the door may be locked from theinside, this latch or look ated from the outside. Relatively heavy bowedleaf springs 21 are secured by their ends to the housing and extendtransversely over the hinged edge of the door to noragainst the innerface of the body 10 to re-' and the upturned flange of the bottom.

being so arranged that it cannot be opercasters or rollers l i which aremounted I mally hold the door in closed position, as shown.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that any onestationed in this,

armored tube or housing will be adequately protected from injury bybullets. As previously stated however, I Wish to provide means wherebythe person stationed within the housing may protect the property underhis care. For this reason, I provide the body portion 10 of the housing,the top and bottom members 11 and 12 and the door 18 all with aplurality of spaced apart sight holes 22 of such size as to preclude theentrance of a bullet, vwhile at the same time large enough to permit aperson standing within the housing to radily see about the same. Theseholes are so arranged as to render it impossible to ap roach the housingfrom any direction without being exposed to view through one of theopenings. Adjacent each of these openings, preferably innnediately belowthe same, is a second semicylindrical opening 23 through which themuzzle or barrel of a gun or revolver may be passed to permit the personin the housing to shoot and thus protect the property under his charge.These holes may be made in any suitable size but are preferablytwoinches wide by two and a half inches high, this size having beenfound sufficient for the purpose. In order to prevent the passage ofbullets through these latter openings, under normal conditions, Iprovide each of the openings with a hinged shutter or closure 24 whichis hinged-by its upper edge, as shown at 25 and which preferablyoverlaps the openings by a quarter to ahalf inch on all sides. Theseshutters are normally held in closed position by leaf springs 26 whichare secured to the housing and which extend transversely across theshutters immediately below the hinges thereof. The sight holes,particularly those in the top 11 of the tube, are provided for suitableventilation during the use of the device and if at any time thisventilation is found insufficient one or more of the shutters may beswung partially open to permit more air, the shutter because of itspeculiar nosasae mounting, still providing almost absolute protectionfrom bullets.v

It will of course be apparent from the foregoing description that thetube is comparatively heavy and will not therefore be readily upset. Atthe same time in case a bomb or similar device is thrown at it, it maybeupset and for this reason particularly I provide the top and bottom endsof the tube with sight holes and shutter openings 24:. With the tube soformed, the person inside, unless injured by the overturning of thetube, may still defend himself and the property under his charge byshooting through the openings in the top and bottom as well as throughthe openings in the sides.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings,the operation of my improved life saving device will be readilyunderstood and no further description of the same is necessary.

It will of course be understood that I do not wish in any way to limitmyself to the specific details of construction set forth in thespecification and illustrated in the drawings, as various minor changesin details may at anytime be made, if desired, with out in the slightestdegree departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A life saver including an armored tube provided with a door opening andclosed at its upper and lower ends, a door for said opening, means forlocking the door from the inside of the tube, the tube, ends and doorbeing provided with a plurality of sight openings and with a pluralityof additional openings located one adjacent each of the sight openings,and a shutter for closing each of said additional openings, saidshutters being normally held in closed position by leaf springs bearingby their free ends over the outer faces of the shutters.

In testimony whereof I afiixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH MARKSON. [L. 5.] Witnesses WV. G. HEINLY, I A; WES'IERVELT.

